


further meta

by imahira



Category: Vinland Saga (Anime), Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: Essays, Formatted for Twitter, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26523808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imahira/pseuds/imahira
Summary: By popular demand I'm dropping my analysis of Askeladd & Thorfinn's relationship. (Also mentions Bjorn a bit.) Enjoy!
Relationships: Askeladd & Bjorn (Vinland Saga), Askeladd & Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)
Kudos: 17





	further meta

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in Notepad for a while but posting meta on Twitter is pretty annoying to format honestly soo I just added caps and put it here. It's still not in paragraph form, just Tweet-sized groupings.
> 
> Note for those who don't follow me on Twitter, Kidou and Kageyama are from the children's sports anime Inazuma Eleven. Kidou is an orphan taken in and manipulated for his skill in soccer, and Kageyama is like god but much sexier

https://media.comicspace.jp/archives/12242/3 🤔 apparently "stay away, Thorfinn!" was a surprise to Yukimura himself

I think Askeladd's feelings towards Thorfinn are like... he wants to respect him more than he does. but he also subscribes to the classic mentor school of "If you need it explained in words, you don't deserve to know."

That classic manga thing where you refuse to tell children what you want them to know, and then when things go horribly wrong as a result, you're like "well, STUPID, that's what you get for being so stupid!"

But in another sense, he probably has more respect for Thorfinn than he does for any of his men, because he does think Thorfinn is capable of being more than just a Viking. It's kind of like "You had Thors as an example, you fucking idiot, what more do you need"

To me, tbh, Thorfinn's relationship to him is a lot less father and son, and more coming to terms with the love you can have for someone who abused you. Like Kidou and Kageyama if Kageyama hadn't learned how to transcend reality.

WRT to Bjorn it might actually be more complicated... I guess I'd sum it up as, Askeladd the Viking sees Bjorn the Viking as his friend, and Askeladd the man sees Bjorn the man as his friend. But Askeladd the man really does despise Vikings, and Bjorn is a Viking to his core

But Askeladd is also a Viking, so ¯¯\\_(ツ)_/¯¯ he's not really in a position to judge. But at the same time I don't know that Bjorn could ever fully understand askeladd's goals, because the world he lives in just isn't that high-minded.

The thing is, he tells Askeladd, "You hated the others, and you hate me." But he wasn't around to hear Askeladd say that, so it's something he already knew.

But, the fact that Askeladd is willing to do what it takes to send him to Valhalla--I think the Askeladd we see in Thorfinn's dreams is a pretty good representation of how the real one feels about Valhalla. It's ugly to him, and he knows he's probably headed there himself.

But the fact that he's willing to send Bjorn there, knowing that it's exactly what Bjorn wants his afterlife to be... I think that speaks to valuing him very highly as a friend, to the extent that that's possible for him.

Sending Bjorn to the afterlife he wants is more than Askeladd's willing to do for himself. He technically met the requirements to go to Valhalla, so if he's there... I think it probably looks to him exactly like it does to Thorfinn. and I doubt he wants to see Thorfinn there.


End file.
